The invention relates to controlling the flow of gravity fed container closures. More particularly, it provides a flow control apparatus, system, and method for controlling container closures gravity fed from a supply to a bottling line.
A typical bottling line has many operations including bottle cleaning, filling, crowning, labeling, and packaging. The failure of any one operation can cause the entire line to stop until the problem is corrected. The bottling line is preferably operated at high speed. Moreover, when the line is stopped it should be capable of being promptly restarted.
The crowning operation includes passing containers, such as bottles, filled with a product through a crowner which affixes a container closure, such as a bottle cap, to the container, sealing the product inside. A supply of container closures is typically gravity fed to the crowner from a container closure dispenser. When the bottling line stops for other reasons, the flow of container closures into the crowner must be stopped to prevent a jam in the crowner causing a malfunction.
In the past, when stopping of the line is desired, a plunger has been mechanically forced into the path of flowing container closures preventing them from jamming into the crowner. The plunger is a device having moving parts. The plunger is, therefore, a potential source of failure. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for controlling gravity fed container closures which does not require moving parts.